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French woman who received world’s 1st face transplant dies
Posted On Sep 06 2016
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A Frenchwoman who received the world’s first partial face transplant has died, 11 years after the surgery that opened the way for dozens of other transplants worldwide.
Dinoire received the ground-breaking operation at the Aimens Hospital in France in 2005 after being having her nose, mouth and chin ripped off by her pet Labrador.
The woman died following a long illness, said the hospital in a statement, confirming the news revealed by newspaper Le Figaro. But the hospital went public with the death after Le Figaro reported on it.
The drugs that she had to take to prevent her body from rejecting the transplant left her vulnerable to cancer, and two cancers had developed, the report said.
The woman underwent surgery on November 27, 2005, after her pet dog, a Labrador cross breed, attacked her and ripped off much of her face.
In 2005, Professor Bernard Devauchelle and Dr Jean-Michel Dubernard attached a graft of the nose, lips and chin of a brain-dead donor to replace parts of her destroyed face. The procedure was called a “medical breakthrough” at the time, notes the AP.
She was happy with the surgery but expressed distress at the attention from the media and passers-by that the operation brought her.
The surgery paved the way for other transplants involving varying combinations of facial parts performed in six other countries, including the United States.
“It’s not hers, it’s not mine, it’s somebody else’s”, she said in 2008. Her doctors said they repeatedly warned her of the risks involved. It is understood she took strong medication after being treated for a transplant rejection. “It’s time to mark a pause”, he said. “Before the operation, I expected my new face would look like me but it turned out after the operation that it was half me and half her”.
In a remarkable news conference in February 2006, just three months after the operation, the blonde, blue-eyed mother of two appeared before TV cameras wearing a black top and pink cardigan. “A door to the future is opening”.
